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May 14, 2023
The MoA Week In Review – (Not Ukraine) OT 2023-115

Last week's post on Moon of Alabama:

asad abukhalil أسعد أبو خليل @asadabukhalil – 1:05 UTC · May 14, 2023

I was treated all week to fawning articles about Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in all West media (just as I remember reading laudatory articles in WSJ and NYT about a Lebanese drug dealer because he was running against Hizbullah). Today I am flooded on twitter with pro-Kılıçdaroğlu tweets

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Other issues:

Empire:

Propaganda:

Currencies:

Use as open (not Ukraine related) thread …

Posted by b on May 14, 2023 at 13:57 UTC | Permalink
Comments

I’m posting this complete … De-dollarization from link above – realistic enough
05 May 2023
Exorbitant, not much longer
The dollar is the unchallenged global currency, for good reason. There are circumstances where that might change.
By Wolfgang Münchau
“Change is good, but dollars are better,” a US author of romance novels once wrote. A similarly light-hearted sentiment inspires the discussions about the future role of the US dollar as the world’s leading currency. The consensus view is that the dollar is safe. I think the consensus is wrong. This won’t be a story with a happy ending.
The dollar is the foundation of US global leadership, and the future of the dollar is therefore intricately linked to the debate about geopolitical fragmentation. Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, asked during his recent visit to China: “Why should every country have to be tied to the dollar for trade?… Who decided the dollar would be the (world’s) currency?”
These are good questions. The perhaps surprising answer is that he himself made that decision, together with the other presidents and former leaders of the so-called Brics: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Their economic development models succeeded but also critically depended on the US dollar. During the period of hyper-globalisation, which I would date from 1990 until 2020, the US became the global importer of last resort, and allowed its trade deficit against the rest of the world to increase. China and many other fast developing economies built up savings in the currency they got paid for, the US dollar. They invested those savings into US bonds and other assets. The willingness of the US to absorb the world’s savings surpluses was the engine of globalisation. It assured that the dollar would maintain its role as the leading global currency.
This mechanism explained what happened in the last 20 years, but it won’t tell us what will happen in the next 20. The dollar-fans make the implicit assumption that the geopolitical and geo-economic environment will stay broadly the same.
If the five Brics countries, and the EU for that matter, wanted to end their dependence on the dollar, they would have to do more than just choose another currency to trade in. It is not menu choice, as Lula suggested during the same speech. He and his fellow Brics leaders would have to change they interact with the rest of the world, and with each other.
China is key. It is the world’s second largest economy. In 2021, China derived 43% of its GDP from investment. This is approximately twice the level of the US and other western countries. If China managed to shift parts of its GDP to consumption, it would invariably reduce its external trade surplus, because consumers tend to buy more imported goods. If you want to become less reliant on the US dollar, this is where you would have to start. As a second step, China and the other Brics countries could start trading more with each other, become more self-reliant in their supply chains, and set up their own financial infrastructure.
Shifting economic models is hard. Three years after Brexit, the UK is still struggling to wean itself off a model that depended on close integration with the EU. Germany is finding it hard to maintain competitiveness without cheap Russian gas and with impaired global supply chains. It takes decades to build industrial production lines and supply chains. In China, there are an awful lot of vested political interests at regional level, which rely on the investment boom going on forever. If President Xi Jinping was really keen on extricating from the US dollar, he would need to impose policies that would meet with resistance from regional leaders. In parallel, China would also need to a start a long process of shifting at least part of its $3.2 trillion worth of foreign reserves held in dollars into other currencies. All of this would take a long time, one or two decades may be.
The reason why I think China, Brazil and other countries will ultimately go down that difficult route is the over-use of economic sanctions by the US. When Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the first decision taken by the western alliance was to freeze Russia’s central bank reserves held in the west. Previously the US had threatened German companies involved with the Nord Stream gas pipeline, by cutting them and their banks off their entire dollar cash flows. If two people transact in dollars through their banks, the transaction flow goes through US jurisdiction at one point. This is why it possible for the US administration to impose sanctions in the first place.
The Obama administration has started to develop dollar-based economic sanctions into a primary policy tool. Dollar sanctions have since become a mainstay of US diplomacy. The most insidious version are so-called secondary sanctions. European companies, for example, were forced to comply with US sanctions against Iran because they would otherwise have lost access to dollar markets. On top of those financial sanctions, the US has become far more aggressive in the use of targeted trade sanctions. The Trump administration banned Huawei. The Biden administration banned high-performance semiconductor sales to China. The EU is also now cautious starting to subject trade policy to geopolitical considerations.
I am not making a moral or political case against sanctions. Sanctions can bring short-term policy successes, but they come with a long-term cost that is often not accounted for when sanctions are imposed. That cost will be a reduced role of the dollar as the world’s largest currency. Sanctions give incentives to countries to re-organise their economies. We are seeing this happening in Russia right now.
Having the world’s leading currency constitutes an exorbitant privilege. This expression is often attributed to General Charles de Gaulle. The more you use and abuse a privilege, the less of it you have left. This is the mechanism I see at work here.
This is the non-fiction version of a story, in which dollars are not necessarily better.

Posted by: Don Firineach | May 14 2023 14:11 utc | 1

Don Firineach | May 14 2023 14:11 utc | 1
Nothing new there in terms of content.
What’s new is western MSM printing it

Posted by: PalmaSailor | May 14 2023 14:28 utc | 2

Yes Munchau more or less gets it right and unusually he doesn’t fall for the common confusion that the observable decline of the dollar as a Medium of Exchange by simple alternatives is the same as a decline in its use as a Store of Value for which there are few alternatives.

John Mearsheimer: Is China the Real Winner of Ukraine War? | Endgame #136 (video)

No. China “Won” 5 or 6 years ago. The Ukraine war is the result of a US that is unable to accept its junior position and is looking for fights anywhere and everywhere.
“China has Overtaken US” rather than “will overtake” makes US crazy games much easier to understand, and happens to be true.

Posted by: Michael Droy | May 14 2023 14:29 utc | 3

@PalmaSailor #2
Precisely.

Posted by: Don Firineach | May 14 2023 14:39 utc | 4

Three years after Brexit, the UK is still struggling to wean itself off a model that depended on close integration with the EU.
Typical Muenchau. The problem was UK had a very different economy from EU which was goods focused and never permitted Services to have a true Single Market because of restrictions especially in Germany, France, Belgium.
UK had a City-focused approach under Tories that allowed foreigners to buy up British companies – Siemens and Plessey, Nestle and Rowntree, ICI dismembered, – it dissolved British industrial base into EU conglomerates and ran huge trade deficits.
Half of UK trade deficit was German car imports.
In fact with a proper industrial policy UK could have made BreXit work but not with Tories or Boris Johnson or Sunak.
UK should never have joined EU but it was geo-political not economic.
China has a global reach which is broad-based industrial much as Japan once was. economic growth comes from NON-G7 countries so does not need US dollar

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 14 2023 14:44 utc | 5

Precisely.
Posted by: Don Firineach | May 14 2023 14:39 utc | 4
They could be softening us up for CBDC to “protect” us…

Posted by: PalmaSailor | May 14 2023 14:52 utc | 6

WRT the story posted above about Christiane Lagarde. She got caught making payments to Bernard Tapie. I know a few things about Tapie from his younger days when he was involved in bicycles and bicycle racing. Suffice it to say that this once interesting man has been a notorious scumbag for 35 years. No one in France could possibly be unaware of his various scandals. It would be like claiming you just didn’t know about Jeffrey Epstein or Roy Cohn. That Lagarde chose to have anything to do with him at all tells me she just does not care if she gets caught. Impunity to the final degre.

Posted by: oldhippie | May 14 2023 15:14 utc | 7

CBDC – completing the Global Panopticon … +full facial, fingerprints, and all biometric data …
Horrendous thought – but direction of travel –

Posted by: Don Firineach | May 14 2023 15:17 utc | 8

The Wuhan Cover-Up: How US Health Officials Conspired with the Chinese Military to Hide the Origins of COVID-19 (Children’s Health Defense) (Hardcover).
——
save us RFKj! save us from the evil Chinese!
yeah, just show us your vax records first, you lying piece of shit.
whatever. he’s not the problem. the problem is people are so easily conned by another ruling class fraud.
save us from QAnon, Donald Trump!
btw, it’s real easy to be the alpha male in certain company. kids, that is. i guess it helps to be involved in and participate in child sex trafficking before one can really know how to fight against it.
the good thing about the horrible weather is that people will have less time to worry about ruling class diarrhea as it becomes more and more obvious how much the ruling class does not give a fart about them.
unfortunately there are plenty of decrepit old men out there barking about how they are wolves and not rabbits.
on the internet!
all flesh is grass. rabbits eat wolves. fucking dumbasses.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | May 14 2023 15:36 utc | 9

@Paul Greenwood | May 14 2023 14:44 utc | 5
Brexit was always doomed to fail miserably. After all it was the wrong answer to a good question: all the problems lamented by the British public, wild immigration, deindustrialization, socialism for corporations and capitalism for the people, did not originate in the EU per se, but in the neoliberal/neocon elite that rules Western countries, especially those in the anglosphere. So to speak, britons jumped from the frying pan directly into the fire.

Posted by: SG | May 14 2023 16:16 utc | 10

«UK should never have joined EU but it was geo-political not economic.»
I reckon quite the opposite: since the EU budget and power are so tiny, the economic benefit is small, and being in or out makes a difference but it is quite small.
However the reason to join the EU is long term geopolitic: before England (and Portugal and the Netherlands and Spain and France etc.) could easily take over bow-and-arrow based states with primitive state finances it was a regular “hanseatic” country, meshed politically and economically with the rest of Europe.
In 1650-1950 (roughly) England then switched to being “overseas” focused instead. But after that it is just a small european country, and the EU is pretty much the Hansa version 2.
England then has had two choices: be a highly influential part of Hansa version 2, with minority but large representation in Bruxelles, or be a not very significant vassal of the USA Empire, with no representation in Washington.
Tony Benn “Diaries” 1965
«Defence, colour television, Concorde, rocket development – these are all issues raising economic considerations that reveal this country’s basic inability to stay in the big league. We just can’t afford it. The real choice is — do we go in with Europe or do we become an American satellite? Without a conscious decision being taken the latter course is being followed everywhere.»
https://www.politico.eu/article/kristian-jensen-brits-angry-at-danes-small-nation-jibe/
«There are two kinds of European nations. There are small nations and there are countries that have not yet realized they are small nations.»
“Winston Churchill in the Twenty First Century” edited by David Cannadine, Roland Quinault:
«The irony was, of course, that one of the war aims of the Roosevelt administration was the liquidation of the British Empire, and the expansion of American power and influence at the expense of Britain.
By the end of 1943 it was clear to Churchill that he could no longer rely on American co-operation. As he explained to Violet Bonham Carter: “When I was at Teheran I realized for the first time what a very small country this is. On the one hand the big Russian bear with its paws outstretched — on the other the great American Elephant — and between them the poor little British Donkey”.»
Churchill to De Gaulle, 1944-06-04, quoted in Jean Lacouture “Le Rebelle” 1984.
«”How can you think that we British would take a position separate from that of the United States? We are going to liberate Europe but it is because the Americans are with us in doing it.
Because every time we must choose between Europe and the open seas, we shall always choose the open seas. And every time I have to choose between you and Roosevelt, I will always choose Roosevelt.”»
Andrew Marr, “History of modern Britain”
«Britain’s dilemma from 1945 until today has been easy to state, impossible to resolve. How do you maintain independence and dignity when you are a junior partner, locked into defence systems, intelligence gathering and treaties with the world’s great military giant? […] In practice this meant […] a posture towards American presidents that is nearer that of salaried adviser than independent ally.»
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/non_fictionreviews/3667997/How-victory-spelt-the-end-of-empire.html
«“Churchill was reduced to a subordinate position in the Grand Alliance as early the Teheran Conference in 1943, when he “realised for the first time what a very small country this is”. By Yalta in February 1945, he was “weaker than ever before”. Roosevelt was concerned with Stalin – he “wasted little time on pandering to Churchill, a vaudeville act with which he was becoming bored”. By that time, Clarke writes, “a well-briefed and prudently calculating leader” would have realised “what limited options were realistic… for Great Britain as a bantam in a heavyweight league, for the Anglo-American alliance as an expedient relationship premised on subordination…”»
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4964236/Special-relationship-seen-joke-diplomats.html
«Barack Obama and his aides regarded the idea of a special relationship between Britain and the US as a joke, it was claimed last night. Jeremy Shapiro, a former presidential adviser, said the special relationship was ‘unrequited’ and he revealed he would insert references to ‘the Malvinas’ – Argentina’s name for the Falklands – into Press conferences. Mr Shapiro said that although US officials stressed the importance of the relationship to British visitors, they would make jokes about the Falklands away from the cameras. He added that the so-called special relationship with Britain ‘was never really something that was very important to the United States’. Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, Mr Shapiro said: ‘From my perspective it was very important for us to mention the special relationship in every Press conference that we had when the UK were here. But really we laughed about it behind the scenes. Typically, I would try and slip in a reference to the Malvinas or something to spoil it.’»

Posted by: Blissex | May 14 2023 16:35 utc | 11

Eric Clapton has released a music video with Jeff Beck performing Henry Mancini’s Moon River I’m sure many barflies will want to save to their favorites. I thank Pepe Escobar for posting it at his VK and to whomever provided it to him. Official Music Video. It provides an excellent pause for the mind and might promote some reflection on life and its journey.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 14 2023 16:45 utc | 12

thanks b….
regarding the christine lagarde article – its from 2016! not sure the relevance, other then to point out her foibles from the past and into the present…
@ 12 karlof1
its a beautiful song.. mancini wrote a lot of beautiful songs that don’t really fit with the rock mindset.. but i guess when people get old, they start to recognize, or realize their was a time in music when melody and harmony trumps loudness and madness…. here is a version of charlie hadens daughter – petra haden) singing the song on a bill frisell album… for those who are into guitar, if you are unfamiliar with him – he is still alive and deserving of more attention… i realize i am challenging the rock and blues gods and geeks here, lol…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4_bLHJ66oc

Posted by: james | May 14 2023 16:52 utc | 13

“…all the problems lamented by the British public, wild immigration, deindustrialization, socialism for corporations and capitalism for the people, did not originate in the EU per se, but in the neoliberal/neocon elite that rules Western countries…” SG@10
The EU is not just neo-liberal but an institution almost impossible to change because it is not only run by the ruling class but makes no pretence that it can be controlled democratically. In this latter it differs from the states that comprise it, all of which, formally at least are representative democracies.
The main purpose of the EU is to protect property from democracy. In effect to grant the thieves permanent impunity.Any country wishing to undertake socialist measures to protect its people from capitalism and imperialism has to begin by leaving the EU and NATO. Anything less is simply going through the motions and political pretense.
The attitude of the SNP to the EU was telling: the independence it was aiming at did not include the right of Scots to reform the centuries of expropriations which have society so unequal and deprivation so widespread. After years in government for example the question of land nationalisation is still unaddressed.

Posted by: bevin | May 14 2023 16:56 utc | 14

Blissex@11
GDH Cole was well aware of the inevitable consequences of the UK committing itself unreservedly to US power.
He argued that the UK should maintain friendship with the USSR and cooperate with it in Europe. He saw that the one thing more fatal to Europe than Soviet domination would be US domination.
He was, of course, right: Europe was in a very good bargaining position vis a vis the USSR, not least because of the strength of communist parties and left socialists in Europe- its needs and strengths complemented the Soviet Union’s.
The Cold War was designed for no other purpose than to isolate Europe from the USSR. All its institutions, including NATO and the precursors of the EU were designed to ensure that the Americans would not leave the fate of Europe’s rich to the people’s decisions.

Posted by: bevin | May 14 2023 17:08 utc | 15

All its institutions, including NATO and the precursors of the EU were designed to ensure that the Americans would not leave the fate of Europe’s rich to the people’s decisions.
Posted by: bevin | May 14 2023 17:08 utc | 15
—
And eventually tractors got big enough to make it practical to expropriate the commoners farms.

Posted by: too scents | May 14 2023 17:13 utc | 16

Something that many seem to overlook is that the traditional political Left in Britain were opposed to joining the (then) Common Market. Michael Foot, Tony Benn, Jack Jones and Len Murray (among others) were all against the idea and supported campaigns for the ‘No’ vote in the referendums.
This view still existed leading into the 1983 General Election campaign. Here’s an extract from the manifesto (from my own archives so I can’t provide an online link):

Britain and the Common Market
Geography and history determine that Britain is part of Europe, and Labour wants to see
Europe safe and prosperous. But the European Economic Community, which does not even
include the whole of Western Europe, was never devised to suit us, and our experience as a
member of it has made it more difficult for us to deal with our economic and industrial
problems. It has sometimes weakened our ability to achieve the objectives of Labour’s
international policy.
The next Labour government, committed to radical, socialist policies for reviving the British
economy, is bound to find continued membership a most serious obstacle to the fulfilment of
those policies. In particular the rules of the Treaty of Rome are bound to conflict with our
strategy for economic growth and full employment, our proposals on industrial policy and for
increasing trade, and our need to restore exchange controls and to regulate direct overseas
investment. Moreover, by preventing us from buying food from the best sources of world
supply, they would run counter to our plans to control prices and inflation.
For all these reasons, British withdrawal from the Community is the right policy for Britain – to
be completed well within the lifetime of the parliament. That is our commitment. But we are
also committed to bring about withdrawal in an amicable and orderly way, so that we do not
prejudice employment or the prospect of increased political and economic co-operation with
the whole of Europe.
We emphasise that our decision to bring about withdrawal in no sense represents any
weakening of our commitment to internationalism and international co operation. We are not
‘withdrawing from Europe’. We are seeking to extricate ourselves from the Treaty of Rome
and other Community treaties which place political burdens on Britain. Indeed, we believe
our withdrawal will allow us to pursue a more dynamic and positive international policy – one
which recognises the true political and geographical spread of international problems and
interests. We will also seek agreement with other European governments – both in the EEC
and outside – on a common strategy for economic expansion.
The process of withdrawal
On taking office we will open preliminary negotiations with the other EEC member states to
establish a timetable for withdrawal; and we will publish the results of these negotiations in a
White Paper. In addition, as soon as possible after the House assembles, we will introduce a
Repeal Bill: first, in order to amend the 1972 European Communities Act, ending the powers
of the Community in the UK; and second, to provide the necessary powers to repeal the
1972 Act, when the negotiations on withdrawal are completed.
Following the publication of the White Paper, we will begin the main negotiations on
withdrawal. Later, when appropriate and in the same parliament, we will use our powers to
repeal the 1972 Act and abrogate the Treaty of Accession – thus breaking all of our formal
links with the Community. Britain will at this point withdraw from the Council of Ministers and
from the European Parliament.
There will need to be a period of transition, to ensure a minimum of disruption – and to phase
in any new agreements we might make with the Community. This will enable us to make all
the necessary changes in our domestic legislation. Until these changes in UK law have
taken place, the status quo as regards particular items of EEC legislation will remain. And
this period will, of course, extend beyond the date when we cease, formally, to be members.

Of course, the overwhelming victory of the far-right Thatcher government caused much soul-searching in the British Left about its approach to EEC/EC/EU membership.
Strange to muse though, that the Brexit vote is often associated with the so-called ‘far Right’; one of those oddities of life I suppose.

Posted by: West of England Andy | May 14 2023 17:17 utc | 17

How about a national digital currency, ?
cbdc is Nazi control, eugenics depopulation by starvation.
Central banking is out of where? Please research before inviting self by warning. Promote other instead them. Nazi banking, central banking term even created out those same Nazi nation’s.
No, screw the cbdc, may it blue screen them into ….
Bless

Posted by: Miguel | May 14 2023 17:52 utc | 18

Nothing about Mexico, and the clamor for a real invasion by way of rumors of a fake one. I mean, it is not like Americans in south of the Nueces River in occupied Mexico have been shelled for eight years and 12,000 to 16,000 have been killed by the Mexican government, although they may have been killed consuming the products of the proxies of the Cocaine (and Fentanyl) Importing Agency.

Posted by: William Haught | May 14 2023 17:56 utc | 19

First sentence a question

Posted by: William Haught | May 14 2023 17:57 utc | 20

In response to karlof1 | May 14 2023 16:45 utc | 12 with the Henry Mancini Moon River link
On a personal note, I met Henry Mancini when he came to the Jesuit high school I went to in Tacoma, WA in the 1963-66 time frame. At the time he impressed me with being a flaming asshole in person but I agree that his music is genius.

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 14 2023 18:08 utc | 21

@karlof1, #12:
Thanks for the Moon River link. I assume Clapton is on the acoustic and Beck on the electric guitars.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | May 14 2023 18:22 utc | 22

@james, #13:
You probably know who’s play what on this recording :-). Pray tell us.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | May 14 2023 18:24 utc | 23

Posted by: Blissex | May 14 2023 16:35 utc | 11
Most if not all of your quotes (excluding Obama) are from before the EU became a vassal to the USA and during the time when the UK was becoming one.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 14 2023 18:33 utc | 24

Mark Blyth on de-dollarization, I agree that it probably won’t be that big a deal, or at least it’ll be a matter of percentages so if the dollar doesn’t falls below some baseline scenario then dollar dominance will continue, it’ll be less dominant, less tribute to the empire but still powerful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo2BxTcVp74
However, there could be critical point were it dollar goes south, pushed below baseline where the decline accelerates and the consequences become important. Blyth points out the premium for using the dollar, security and utility, and he notes how stupid it is to damage this with sanctions and seizing assets but he ignores the opposite and obvious premium of leaving the dollar, that is the “service fee” tribute to empire you paid for that utility and security you instead get to pocket. For a nation, especially a large nation that feels drained and preyed upon, or a nation with huge cash flow KSA, that tribute that went to the empire is a whole lot of money. Guess where it’ll be invested? In China, the Belt and Roads, reinforcing the yuan which only accelerates de-dollarization. In the B&RI it wouldn’t be parked money but a trade for goods and services, much less risk.
So, it may not be a baseline scenario but dynamic and unpredictable driven by an opposing premium. All very hard to predict, guess it depends how badly China wants to break USA hegemony, how valued they can make their own premiums either related or opposing – or both.
If they can create an “open source” basket of currencies, detached from the real or perceived risks Blyth points out about parking money in Yuan, Rupees etc then that could get serious traction. They would have to do it fast, if slow the USA will pick off one BRICS at a time. But, the bet is that Blyth is correct, the dollar isn’t going anywere for a while.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2023 18:37 utc | 25

I must have missed this in April. If we lose the Internet Archive, we’re screwed.

The Internet Archive was founded in 1996. A federal judge recently ruled that its Emergency Library program violated copyright law. CREATIVE COMMONS
If you’ve ever researched anything online, you’ve probably used the Internet Archive (IA). The IA, founded in 1996 by librarian and engineer Brewster Kahle, describes itself as “a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.” Their annals include 37 million books, many of which are old tomes that aren’t commercially available. It has classic films, plenty of podcasts and — via its Wayback Machine — just about every deleted webpage ever.
Four corporate publishers have a big problem with this, so they’ve sued the Internet Archive. In Hachette v. Internet Archive, the Hachette Publishing Group, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins and Wiley have alleged that the IA is committing copyright infringement. Now a federal judge has ruled in the publishers’ favor. The IA is appealing the decision.
When Julius Caesar burned the Library of Alexandria, it was hard to imagine a greater destruction of scholarship. Now, 2,000 years later, some petty, litigious schmucks are ready to deal an even bigger blow to the literary canon.
This is fundamentally a strike against taxpayer-funded public services by corporations and private individuals. While Hachette and other publishers ultimately formulated the assault on the IA, novelists were cheering them on. Novelist Chuck Wendig disingenuously criticized the IA’s Emergency Library, saying that “artists get no safety net,” and pointed out unemployment and healthcare costs for writers.
The IA is undoubtedly great for scholarship and literacy. It might be an objective contender for the best site on the World Wide Web. That’s not just my word as an idiosyncratic scholar of genealogy, history and media. Organizations from Boston Public Library and Trent University in Ontario to WorldCat and OCLC collaborate with the Internet Archive to preserve oodles of books. The IA doesn’t even require a library card. If you have Internet access, you can use it.
Let’s examine why exactly the plaintiffs are upset about IA. In 2020, the IA introduced the National Emergency Library, which made copyrighted books available for free during the COVID-19 pandemic. The publishers behind the lawsuit alleged that this entailed copyright infringement. The judge, who was hostile from the beginning, decided to rule in the publishers’ favor. In essence, a federal judge ruled against a program benefiting American taxpayers, in which multiple government-funded public libraries participate.
There’s no evidence the borrowing program scooped up any independent writers’ income. And furthermore, do economically disadvantaged readers not deserve access to books? Shutting down a short-term borrowing program is far more disastrous to the working class than access to books can ever be.
Not only is this concern-trolling disingenuous, but the ruling itself, grounded in copyright, is a smack against fair use. It brings us one step closer to perpetual copyright – the idea that individuals should own their work forever. The IA argued that their project was covered by fair use, as the Emergency Library provides texts for educational and scholarly purposes.
Even writers objected to the court’s ruling. More than 300 writers signed a petition against the lawsuit, including Neil Gaiman, Naomi Klein and – get this – Chuck Wendig. Writers lost nothing from the Emergency Library and gained everything from it. For my part, I’ve acquired research materials from the IA that I wouldn’t have found anywhere else. The archive has scads of primary sources which otherwise might require researchers to fly across the country for access.
The Internet Archive is good for literacy. It’s good for the public. It’s good for readers, writers and anyone who’s invested in literary education. It does not harm authors, whose income is no more dented by it than any library programs. Even the Emergency Library’s initial opponents have conceded this. The federal court’s decision is a victory for corporations and a disaster for everyone else. If this decision isn’t reversed, human beings will lose more knowledge than the Library of Alexandra ever contained. If IA’s appeal fails, it will be a tragedy of historical proportions.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 14 2023 18:38 utc | 26

Re: Erdogan and Turkey
So if Erdogan wins, do the anti-Empire pro-Trump denizens of MoA consider it a legitimate, fair, nonstolen election? Or did the Turkish state (and/or CIA) collude with the media to make it happen with all their “2,000 Mules”? Or is that the case if Erdogan loses? Asking for a friend.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 14 2023 18:46 utc | 27

Re: The above post ^^^^^
User ‘sabretache’ has provided this link in the Ukraine O/T: https://sputnikglobe.com/20230514/turkiyes-presidential-election-2023-results-1110316169.html
Erdogan still has a good 6-7 points over the next guy. At the time of this posting 75% of ballots have been counted in Turkey.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 14 2023 18:49 utc | 28

The Internet Archive is censoring old but newly commercialized books.

Posted by: anon | May 14 2023 18:50 utc | 29

Below is a comment from the propaganda thread I want to follow up on here
”
Will humans discuss our existing forms of social organization and make decisions about how to evolve as a species? No adults in this room it seems.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 13 2023 16:29 utc | 5
Or else we’re too adult …
You put your finger on something. We may be the only species yet to exist that is able to influence its own evolution. The current narrative ignores that, as if all the destruction is somehow natural – just part of “human nature.” It assumes that the most we can do is slap those of us who are just a bit too greedy on the wrist. No one ever raises the issue of taking control over our own evolution – as if it will take near-extinction for anything to change. It sees the future as some sort of natural phenomenon over which we have no control. And yet the causes of the approaching extinction are evident and undeniable.
Just my 2c worth.
Posted by: Gene Poole | May 14 2023 16:09 utc | 57
”
In the early 1970 in Washington State I participated in public policy planning on the scale you are talking about (state level) and it was shut down and the cross-impact matrix analysis done then in public has been done in private since.
We don’t want to copy China but bring public policy planning out into the daylight and let it grow….Future Study needs to be a required class in every school at multiple levels, IMO…..the new civics.
Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the earth.

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 14 2023 18:51 utc | 30

@ Oriental Voice | May 14 2023 18:24 utc | 23
hi ov… actually the details are on the youtube link, unlike the details on karlof1’s youtube link where one is left to guess who anyone other then jeff beck and eric clapton are… such is the design of the music business… all hail big names and forgot about all the other little people that go into making these recordings…

Posted by: james | May 14 2023 18:53 utc | 31

Posted by: anon | May 14 2023 18:50 utc | 29
I think the argument is of the ‘slippery slope’ variety.
There’s always archive.is – with many thanks to ‘Outraged’ who is dearly missed at MoA.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 14 2023 19:04 utc | 32

Tom_Q_Collins @ 26
Copying Is Not Theft
While we’re at it, I love her work others might also:
All Creative Work Is Derivative
Sita Sings the Blues (2008) Nina Paley

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2023 19:09 utc | 33

^ Before the litany of naysayers best add this one quick:
Credit Is Due (The Attribution Song)

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2023 19:20 utc | 34

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2023 19:09 utc | 33
Brandon’s Long History of Plagiarism

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 14 2023 19:29 utc | 35

Caught a glimpse of Canadian MSM news and it appears they’re preparing for a big GOP win in 2024.   Reliability aside, recent polls reported by MSM suggests the Conservatives have taken a slight lead.   And now the ramp up of the anti-China message seems to have started as both nations are expelling junior diplomats.   I suspect it’s all to do with Ukraine as China is firmly behind Russia and Canada is firmly behind Ukraine.

Posted by: Ian2 | May 14 2023 19:43 utc | 36

Tom_Q_Collins @ 35

Brandon’s Long History of Plagiarism

I lived through all of it. In 5th grade I straight up copied something from the Britannica as my report and the teacher said, you can’t do that it’s called plagiarism, you have to put you’re own spin on it, go do it over. Sounded reasonable, I never did it again.
Brandon is a petty gangster never was a heavy hitter, later I realized that is what made him valuable. Never could have guessed that when he hit the big time he’d go full Tony Montana, but yeh, makes sense, that’s what that movie was all about. Petty criminal gets too big for his britches and loses his shit.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2023 20:18 utc | 37

rjb1.5. @9
Oh oh, rjb1.5 started drinking early again it seems … sounds all too familiar.

Posted by: onceandfuture | May 14 2023 20:21 utc | 38

western media was buzzing this week certain government workers get paid for first time in digital yuan in china. as per usual evil china enslaves their people with those same commenters forgetting its the west thats bringing CBDC to everyone as fast as they can. lets all say engineered collapse together and click our heels magik CBDC will save and replace the problems .

Posted by: hankster | May 14 2023 22:46 utc | 39

onceandfuture # 20:21 utc | 38
I was curious as to whether rjb1.5 acquired said drink at this bar or BYO.
Wierd concoction IMO.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 14 2023 22:50 utc | 40

karlof1@12…..what a tribute to an old friend, thanks for posting that, made me day, put a tear in the corner of my eye…….
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | May 14 2023 23:40 utc | 41

For those who think Christianity is patriarchal, today’s Orthodox Easter feast is a lesson to the contrary. It is the feast of Christ’s meeting with the Samaritan woman (I know – those pesky Samaritans; they keep cropping up!) I’m actually one of them, as I became officially Orthodox on this feast Sunday, 5th Sunday of Pascha.
The story can be found in the Saint John Gospel, Chapter 4, verses 5 through 42. I love it that the disciples had gone off to town to get food, came back and wondered why he was talking to a … (heaven forbid) … a woman!
And just a small excerpt from the book I mentioned on the last open thread – Why Angels FALL:

…The novelist Dostoyevsky noted the Russians’ extraordinary love of pilgrimaging. The Russian peasant, he wrote, in his The Brothers Karamazov, ‘may suddenly…abandon everything and go off on a pilgrimage for his soul’s salvation, or perhaps he will suddenly set fire to his native village, and perhaps do both. There are a good many contemplatives among the peasantry.’

I will end with the reminder that for these Easter feasts, it doesn’t matter old or new calendar — all Orthodox are together on these, all the way to Pentecost, because they are based on the lunar calendar.
Moon River….wider than a mile….beautiful song.

Posted by: juliania | May 14 2023 23:58 utc | 42

Posted by: Oriental Voice | May 14 2023 18:22 utc | 22
Definitely Beck on the electric guitar. His playing is unmistakable.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | May 15 2023 1:32 utc | 43

Henry Kissinger remains wrong on China, By Daniel Samet May 13, 2023 06:00 AM https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/courage-strength-optimism/henry-kissinger-remains-wrong-on-china
In the end Kissinger did the world a favor: he bigged the CCP Frankenstein enough to challenge the US MICIMATT monster.

Posted by: Antonym | May 15 2023 3:30 utc | 44

Ah all this chit-chat about “currencies”, and Russia, and the flailing United States is all well and good. But lets all face the facts.
The rest of the world (outside of the United States and its proxies) are racing away from the United States as fast as they can run. It started as a run, went into a gallop, and now it’s a full-on sprint.
First it is the USD.
Followed closely by culture.
Then it will trade.
By the time 2025 rolls around, the United States “news” would still be an incoherent triviality, but the rest of the world will have functionally isolated the West from their lives.
Oh, the USA will still try to make do with a few rounds, and take jabs, but its blows are as soft as a babys bottom.

Posted by: Rufus Arrr | May 15 2023 3:40 utc | 45

What has the world come to….Eric Clapton with Jeff Beck playing elevator music?

Posted by: Bartholomew Cubbins | May 15 2023 3:53 utc | 46

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. details how the NSA was in charge of Operation Warpspeed’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, the history of the United States bioweapons program, and why Anthony Fauci is the highest-paid government official in history:
https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1657175672660566016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1657175672660566016%7Ctwgr%5E7330c28fefa7ba01447aa39819fa5cdc01335e89%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theautomaticearth.com%2F2023%2F05%2Fdebt-rattle-may-14-2023%2F
May 12 RFKjr interview. Has this been posted here, yet? It is Hot Stuff .
Sorry about the long link.
I might add a hot thing or 2 if there is interest.

Posted by: chu teh | May 15 2023 3:59 utc | 47

Followed closely by culture.
Posted by: Rufus Arrr | May 15 2023 3:40 utc | 45
Using the term ‘culture’ in its broadest sense, but gawd I hope you’re right.

Posted by: waynorinorway | May 15 2023 4:06 utc | 48

Posted by: juliania | May 14 2023 23:58 utc | 42
As an escapee from a Christ-as-Sky-God-Cult, I still appreciate your comments. I disagree with you on this one subject but still think you’re a genuine, rational person. Christ was a fictitious or at least heavily fictionalized real-life character (to say nothing of the OT) that 95% of his so-called followers in the USA do not actually emulate in thought or action. Where do you live, BTW? I’m not asking for a city let alone address; just country or even region/continent. Because you need to come visit the Bible Belt in the USA if you don’t understand the fucking fanaticism that is at play there. And it’s a fanaticism that the GOP gladly plays or panders to, and some Demo-rats as well.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2023 4:20 utc | 49

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins
Shame on you! Are you saying you don’t believe the world didn’t exist before 6000 years ago? 50 million Americans couldn’t be wrong could they? Alexander Mercouris hes been claiming to be an
orthodox Christian lately ,I wonder if he believes the world was created 6000 years ago when god created it? He has been pandering to Trump lately so I don’t listen to him much anymore. I think
he is trying to increase he audience. Not to criticize Christian ethics or Juliana , she is a good and conscientious person I believe.

Posted by: Bartholomew Cubbins | May 15 2023 4:55 utc | 50

1. ” Our special tactics to combat Slavs is a secret knowledge, because of its exclusivity limited to the god’s chosen people. The main weapon of struggle we will direct against the Slavs, except for renegades, “married” with the Jews by common interests. True, all these “married to us” will be withdrawn from our society once we use them for our own purposes.”
2. ” Our methods of conquest will not at all be military, but ideological and economic, with the use of power structures, armed with the most modern types of armament for the physical suppression of revolt with even greater ferocity than it was done in October 1993 with gunning of the Supreme Council of Soviet Russia. ”
3. ” Dumb Slavic people do not realize that the worst fascists are those who never and in no place proclaim fascism aloud, but, instead, organize it all supposedly according to the most democratic standards. On the contrary, we will make the very word “fascist” a dirty word.”
4. ” We will deprive the population of Slavs of their national elite, which is the one that determines the development of events and the progress of the country, and, ultimately, the whole course of history. To do this, we will lower their level of education – in the next 5 years, we will close half of their universities, and it is us who will get educated at the other half. ”
T.B.C.

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | May 15 2023 5:19 utc | 51

Alexander Mercouris hes been claiming to be an
orthodox Christian lately
Bartholomew Cubbins | May 15 2023 4:55 utc | 50
Mercouris is Greek. You use terms like claim…

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 15 2023 5:24 utc | 52

“…It would be like claiming you just didn’t know about Jeffrey Epstein …”
Most Americans are utterly clueless about what he has been up to and are still being distracted by the scatterlings on the surface, those about the sex slavery, with the mam (and sorry to say, much of the altm) playing their dutiful role. This naturally what exactly the purpose of those scatterlings. What Webb is unearthing through great effort barely penetrates the murky layers, even by her own admission, yet even that is horrifying enough.

Posted by: petra | May 15 2023 5:29 utc | 53

Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2023 4:20 utc | 49
I don’t know if that comment is you or a username pirate but Juliana is good. I am not religious but have read the gospels. Much good there.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 15 2023 5:33 utc | 54

rjb1.5. I’m never sure how to take you, but that is my next t-shirt: all flesh is grass. rabbits eat wolves.

Posted by: Rae | May 15 2023 5:53 utc | 55

The colour revolution thugs have claimed a majority in Thailand. Not yet a government as those lads in neat camouflage attire will determine the latter and its duration.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/preliminary-results-thailands-election-2023-05-14/
Yes, I know, spare the flogging, it is reuters getting all priapic but do guide me to better results if you have data.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 15 2023 7:19 utc | 56

More Thailand: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/14/thailand-election-results-what-we-know-so-far

Thailand’s reformist opposition has won the most seats and the largest share of the popular vote in a general election after voters resoundingly rejected the military-backed parties that have ruled the Southeast Asian country for nearly a decade.
With nearly all votes counted on Monday, the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) and the populist Pheu Thai Party were projected to win about 286 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives.
But uncertainty remains about whether they would be able to form the next government due to skewed parliamentary rules that allow 250 members of a military-appointed Senate to vote on the prime minister.
That means MFP and Pheu Thai will need the support of smaller parties to establish a new administration.
The biggest winner of Sunday’s vote was MFP, a progressive youth-led party that contested the general elections for the first time on a bold platform of reforming the monarchy and reducing the power of the military by rewriting the country’s constitution and ending conscription.
With 99 percent of votes counted, the MFP looked set to take the biggest share of the lower house with a total of 147 seats, preliminary results published on the election commission website showed. The figure includes 112 from the 400 seats that are directly elected and 35 from the 100 seats allocated to parties on a proportional basis.

So for now I have no idea if this new Move Forward party is front runner and I have no idea of its association with the west’s colour front Shinawattra crowd of elite thuggees.
Time and Brian Berletic will tell 😉

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 15 2023 7:25 utc | 57

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 14 2023 18:51 utc | 30
“We” as a human species have been taking control of our own evolution. Just look at the current state of technology and how it fast it progressed in recent years. The internet, smartphones, CBDC, together with the reshaping of society by means of war and destruction in order for the people to accept those changes. But as you correctly point out, “we” is not us, it is just a tiny group of people who exclude everyone else.
Who exactly are “the meek”? I would suggest they are the ones who endorse every new development like CBDC. Who accept any and all cookies on the internet and do not question any jabs being offered. For they do not stand in the way of our evolution. Or am I wrong?

Posted by: RON | May 15 2023 7:47 utc | 58

China sentences USA spy to life in the slammer according to ‘hate China’ paper Pakistan
Today

China sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison Monday on spying charges.
John Shing-Wan Leung, who holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, was detained on April 15, 2021, by the counterintelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou.
The city’s intermediate court announced Leung’s sentence in a brief statement on its social media site but gave no details of the charges.
Such investigations and trials are held behind closed doors and little or no information is made public.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have hit a historical low amid disputes over trade, technology, human rights and China’s increasingly aggressive approach toward its territorial claims.
The sentencing comes as US President Joe Biden is traveling to Hiroshima, Japan, for the Group of Seven major industrial nations summit, followed by a visit to Papua New Guinea, a Pacific island nation in a region where China has sought to increase its economic, military and diplomatic influence.

look out my Papuan friends, the Biden Crime Family plane is coming to your land. This means they are stealing YOUR cargo NOT delivering any promises.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 15 2023 7:47 utc | 59

University of Ghent professor of psychoanalytic psychotherapy Mattias Desmet.
Mass formation explained to Jimmy Dore and the audience.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 15 2023 7:59 utc | 60

Occasionally I frequent the channel of a Russian(-speaking) YouTuber named Dof (Доф) who makes animated videos.
One of his videos recaps the second Angry Birds film in less than two minutes and in Russian. What catches my ear is when one character shouts “орлы!” (orly, ‘eagles’). The pronunciation of R is such that to my ears it sounded like “оглы!” (ogly) at first, like a guttural/uvular R.
His other videos (at least where he voices the characters) have hints of this. With his (hours-long) livestreams, though, I can’t tell whether and when he pronounces R gutturally or trills them the standard Russian (Slavic) way.
Is there an actual accent in Russia where R is pronounced gutturally like in Danish and some parts of French and German?

Posted by: joey_n | May 15 2023 8:40 utc | 61

joey_n #8:40 utc | 61
I cannot speak for the Russian language or for the Angry Birds.
I can say this for the beauty of birds:

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 15 2023 9:54 utc | 62

Brian Berletic has just posted his analysis of the Thai elections.

US Proxies Win Thai 2023 General Elections – Thai-Chinese Relations at Risk, Instability Looms…
– US interference in Thailand’s media & information space, education system, and political system has reached critical mass, allowing US-sponsored opposition parties to sweep elections;
– so-called “pro-democracy” parties are led by corrupt billionaires including a convicted criminal and fugitive behind the worst human rights abuses in Thailand’s history;
– the US-backed opposition is openly anti-China, has called for canceling arms deals, infrastructure projects (including the high-speed railway), and rolling back ties with Beijing in favor of pivoting to the West;
– The West offers no alternatives to China’s tangible contributions to Thai and regional development as well as economic prosperity. Instead, the US offers increased involvement in regional affairs and “military cooperation” which equates to antagonizing China, the region’s most important economic player;
– the US is involved heavily in transforming Asia into a united front against China in the same self-destructive way it has transformed Europe into an anti-Russian block, serving US interests at the expense of the European people’s best interests;
– Thailand has suffered cycles of political instability similar to this before and prevailed, and could possibly prevail again. Efforts across multipolar institutions and blocs to aid nations like Thailand in uprooting US interference could help spare Thailand and the region from otherwise inevitable instability and violence;

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 15 2023 9:58 utc | 63

https://time.com/6270540/imf-pushing-putins-economic-propaganda/
IMF is the a Putin bot now lmao

Posted by: Colin | May 15 2023 11:05 utc | 64

This is what Moon River sounds like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJgGs9WpGt0

Posted by: oldhippie | May 15 2023 11:24 utc | 65

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 14 2023 18:38 utc | 26
Hachette publishing is a subsidiary of Matra, a weapons manufacturer. Some years ago, my kids’ civics textbook, published by Hachette, featured a picture of a “nuclear-capable Iranian missile.”

Posted by: Gene Poole | May 15 2023 12:50 utc | 66

Posted by: SG | May 14 2023 16:16 utc | 10
Such a pity you know no economic history !
Nowhere was the EEC founded as a Neo-Liberal organisation and it is still not so.
It was a bargain between France which needed German money to pay the bribes Paris needed to buy the voters of French farmers – and Germany which needed a captive market for its manufactures and its part-time farmers.
UK was simply a milch cow. There was no Fisheries Policy before the UK entry was delayed and France created one to access British fishing grounds.
Edward Heath joined EEC “whatever the cost” – it was a disaster because it had completely different economic infrastructure – when UK joined it had largest truck manufacturer in Europe and most efficient farms………….
EEC policies were nonsensical in UK which has a very different structure – legally and economically. It had excellent Farm Support systems – Milk Marketing Board, Meat Marketing Board, set up in 1930s which were dismantled

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 15 2023 13:15 utc | 67

Strange to muse though, that the Brexit vote is often associated with the so-called ‘far Right’; one of those oddities of life I suppose.
Posted by: West of England Andy | May 14 2023 17:17 utc | 17
Hugh Gaitskell warned –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vMVRWdJ-2w
Terms like “Far Right” are so pathetic because they imply the “Left” is so far off the scale as to be out of range………
BreXit was a rebellion against Neo-Norman Feudalism from London………..it was almost Danelaw and Anglo-Saxons rebelling

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | May 15 2023 13:20 utc | 68

Many here constantly drone on about the evils of ” White Supremacy ” the evil Anglo Saxons , NAZIs, and the White European and US domination of the world. However,how do you explain things such as this ? Do evil White rulers / Nazis hate themselves and their own people ?
– Biden calls white supremacy greatest terrorism threat as 2024 race heats up –
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-calls-white-supremacy-greatest-terrorism-threat-as-2024-race-heats-up/ar-AA1baSrs

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | May 15 2023 14:06 utc | 69

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | May 15 2023 14:06 utc | 69
Easy, Bidens dimensia is showing his closet racism. If you watch, understand more about dimensia, as you understand what happens to brain, research what is.
Now watch videos on Biden.
What seen is Bidens racism is becoming visual cause he dimensia not being it anymore. You can see the racial reactions when he around black people.
Here trick, get been talk long long speech, yes! But have hi surrounded by black men, taller than him, use abnormal door patterns. Gents already seeing on video clips. Just watch closer. You can see it, like a strange old man fear black man. Rather disturbing, And can only get worse.

Posted by: Miguel | May 15 2023 14:32 utc | 70

@ Tom_Q_Collins | May 15 2023 4:20 utc | 49
tom – juliania is in new mexico.. i take it you are in texas, lol…
@ uncle tungsten | May 15 2023 9:58 utc | 63
thanks for that… sounds about what one would expect… democracy and meddling seem to go hand in hand….
@ oldhippie | May 15 2023 11:24 utc | 65
frank sinatras version is nice… check my link @ 13 for a similar version..

Posted by: james | May 15 2023 14:38 utc | 71

” Easy, Bidens dimensia is showing his closet racism. If you watch, understand more about dimensia, as you understand what happens to brain, research what is.
Now watch videos on Biden.
Posted by: Miguel | May 15 2023 14:32 utc | 70 ”
So Irish Biden is secretly racist against White people ? Thats some logical leap. Additionally, this is happening all over most majority White nations in one form or another. Finally, how do you explain this clip then ?
https://media.gab.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=710,quality=100,fit=scale-down/system/media_attachments/files/137/873/027/original/91693f4dbfc5fc90.jpeg

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | May 15 2023 14:47 utc | 72

In case anyone wondered why a “Muslim” terror group would initially choose to call themselves after an Egyptian goddess and then quickly change their name to ISIL when people started asking questions. Pure cohencidence I’m sure.
https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/137/836/437/original/53fe3264c1bc4c8f.mp4

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | May 15 2023 14:51 utc | 73

The plunge protection team seems to be trying to keep a bottom at 33,000. Lots of plates in the air.

Posted by: financial matters | May 15 2023 15:01 utc | 74

@ LightYearsFromHome | May 14 2023 19:09 utc | 33
thanks for the link to sita sings the blues.. never knew about that before.. fascinating!
henry mancini https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Mancini
i think the reason jeff beck and eric clapton picked his song is because of the great strength of the melody to moon river… who writes songs with melody anymore?? jeff beck and eric clapton doing it is an anachronism… it is disconnected from there own time frame and era where melody has been all but forgotten, or replaced with an emphasis on loudness and rhythm… here is one of my favourite henry mancini songs – dreamsville.. it is not on the list of his greatest hits, but i still love this melody..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzxS1DxrSzA

Posted by: james | May 15 2023 15:13 utc | 75

You probably know who’s play what on this recording :-). Pray tell us.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | May 14 2023 18:24 utc | 23
It is almost a pity Clapton sang the lyrics, Hizzoner Jeff Beck’s gorgeous playing could have continued. After a fashion, Clapton took his turn, fairly obvious if you have listened to The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking as much as I have. I could never connect that playing to previous concepts of Clapton but it connects here. Glad this piece was shared here, I would have missed it.

Posted by: Not Ewe | May 15 2023 15:27 utc | 76

Posted by: financial matters | May 15 2023 15:01 utc | 74
Protection team, lives in NYC, only gives shit about Yankee scum.
Let be known, humans that live in NYC, have toxicity levels dangerous and cancerous. You always know a new Yorker by looking at the cancer on his face! They die fifty years before everyone else and always in rush, and live in what’s called food desert, where children meals are only chips and soda. They only shop at 7-11!
The armpit of society,
roadmap towards
Human Extinction.
Couldn’t happen to a better place!

Posted by: Thomas G Franklin | May 15 2023 15:27 utc | 77

uncle tungsten | May 15 2023 9:54 utc | 62
Ever been out in the bush and listened to a Lyrebird. For whatever reason your comment brought back some memories. All different bird twirpings coming from the same spot. They would make good politicians.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 15 2023 15:36 utc | 78

Don’t eat the Hunan from WUHAN or you might get the Fauci Flu!
WUHAN WUHAN WUHAN WUHAN WUHAN WUHAN WUHAN WUHAN WUHAN WUHAN WUHAN!
It even has HAN in its name! (Han = Chinese, for the American audience.)
vote RJKj/Tucker 2024! secure borders, no vaccines, and war on the real enemy!

Posted by: rjb1.5 | May 15 2023 15:41 utc | 79

@ RON | May 15 2023 7:47 utc | 58 who asked about who I thought the meek are……the opposite of the bullies
CHINA

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 15 2023 16:00 utc | 80

Legendary poker player Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson passed away, my wife’s Uncle.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/poker/poker-legend-doyle-brunson-dies-at-89-2777279/

Posted by: SwissArmyMan | May 15 2023 16:05 utc | 81

james @ 75
Quick history on Sita, somewhere I saw Paley interviewed when Sita came out, Paley was a NYC freelance animator, boyfriend got a gig in India as a s/w developer she followed him there. In India she picks up a copy of the Ramayana the ancient story of Sita and Rama, boyfriend cold dumps her while she’s there, she returns home shattered and discovers the old Jazz music of Annette Hanshaw waif white girl singing street smart ghetto songs as if she’s Bessie Smith. So, the personal story of Paley scorned by her man, devoted Sita mistreated by an indifferent Lord Rama, and Hanshaw singing of good women and bad men all comes together for in her movie. Knowing the background helps the story.
I know little about Mancini, just the Duane Eddy of Peter Gunn. I’ll give that album a listen, I know my jazz pretty well, I usually prefer the bebop interpretations of such things, they tend to avoid the Liberace style keyboard flourishes on the piano 🙃

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | May 15 2023 16:35 utc | 82

Safeguarding Your Mental Health from the Harmful Effects of Western War Propaganda – Ten Top Tips
from Prof. Geoffrey Roberts – one of the very best realist Soviet/Russian historians around and a voice for sanity in the present geopolitical conflict.
Very, very, highly recommended to all commenters here … ((and especially for “b”) Read on:
https://geoffreyroberts.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Ten-Top-Tips-.pdf

Posted by: Don Firineach | May 15 2023 17:14 utc | 83

Paul Greenwood@67
The Eu certainly did not begin as a neo-liberal institution.It would be difficult to think of any governmental body in the early fifties, late forties, when memories of the failures of liberalism were deeply felt and the wartime ethos of socialism pervaded all institutions, that was neo-liberal.
But by the late seventies and early eighties the trend towards neo-liberalism affected everything, and
the Heath-Selsdon man- Tory party in particular.
The current EU seems to me to be dominated by neo-liberal ideas,and has been particularly since the Maastricht Treaty.
Certainly Europe has changed enormously since the early days of the Six and the Common Market.

Posted by: bevin | May 15 2023 17:16 utc | 84

Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | May 15 2023 14:47 utc | 72
Sorry for my English and autocorrect. Biden, his generation, were racist against ‘blacks people’.
He must have used that n-egative word many times, in closet I mean. Behind close doors, his generation not nice to colored people still today, resonates inside regret pushes on patient
but hush mumbled. Always still there. Dementia always gets worse, uncontrollable and spontaneous, thinking dementia patient is reliving 1950 again in mind.
Yes, seen ‘unedited’ clips of him, sort of waking up! after case, not knowing wear he was, but every every time he does this and first eyes are on black guy, his facial reaction of
fear looking. Dementia gettingworse.
Yes,SOON
he screams on live TV,
runs out of room frantically ! as he sees black men stand near him. But a crowd a black men, may trigger patient delierium.
This has internal reasons of past when he was youth and reliving his internal racial tendaciees
still around.

Posted by: Miguel | May 15 2023 17:19 utc | 85

This morning brought some excellent, stimulating reading: Pepe Escobar’s review of Dr. Hudson’s newest work in, “US Empire of Debt Headed for Collapse”, that like Hudson connects the present to the past and shows why the study of history is paramount; and Alastair Crooke’s closer look into the small stuff associated with the results of the above history, “Big Gambles Heading Into Gusting Headwinds”, that immediately addresses the headline’s meaning:

The economic forces – those post war strong tailwinds – that have shaped the last 35 years, and which accelerated gilded journeys through the western ‘plentiful era’, are no longer blowing in a favourable direction. They were already slowing, but now are reversing.
The winds now have shifted 180° in direction – they are gusting headwinds. This is a structural shift within a long cycle. There are no quick ‘silver bullet’ solutions. The ‘Cabaret’ good-time years are gone. We will have to ‘make do’ with less; and consequent political volatility is inevitable.

I read Crooke prior to Escobar, but the other way round will work just as well. Most of what Pepe cites from The Collapse of Antiquity I’d already read. I’m very pleased that both are highlighting the main problem which the Greeks called Pleonexia, although both shorten its definition to just “wealth addiction” when the proper definition is more complex and explains much more, “the insatiable desire to have what rightfully belongs to others,” which I’m sure most will agree is more insidious than mere addiction to wealth as to covet what others have means it must be taken from them through whatever/any means, warfare being the most recognizable. And that’s what arose–Class Warfare. Bastiat saw this very clearly:
When plunder becomes a way of life, men create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.
Crooke digs into the self-inflicted European crisis that was already afoot prior to December 2021:

If so, it will be the first time in history that anyone has bet so heavily on tech, over energy. Never before has such redundancy of the existing energy infrastructure (and its loss of value) been seriously contemplated. And – never before – has efficient energy infrastructure been scrapped, to be replaced with new Green structures that are less efficient (see here and here as two examples), less reliable, and more expensive.
It is the first time in history that such an investment has been made at this scale. That makes everything more expensive, harder, and less efficient. It is a recipe for further embedding inflation and economic degradation.
Truly, it is to sail against howling headwinds. How will this infrastructure be financed? The Free Money era is behind us; fiscal cost is now REAL cost. Degraded efficiency, reliability and friction will then meet and contend with upcoming EU Net Zero ideology, with Climate becoming the pretext for introducing radical restrictions on ways of living.

And there’s more. At the end he hints at the continuation of the Class War under a different guise but the same nonetheless.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 15 2023 17:29 utc | 86

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WJOFH7yNkU
Berletic at his finest. I think it was uncle t who linked it earlier but I will link it again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WJOFH7yNkU

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 15 2023 17:37 utc | 87

karlof1 | May 15 2023 17:29 utc | 86
Perhaps for sailing ships, headwinds and tailwinds are a good analogy but not so much if you are flying low and slow. Get hit with a gust from behind and you are really paddling hard in shit creek.
But that aside, we watch the inevitable.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 15 2023 17:44 utc | 88

@james, #31;
@Jon_in_AU, #43;
@Not Ewe, #76:
Thanks to all for enlightening me on the instrumental version of Moon River :-). I agree with Not Ewe that Eric Clapton chiming in with vocal towards the end was a minus.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | May 15 2023 17:57 utc | 89

Posted by: Oriental Voice | May 15 2023 17:57 utc | 89
You’re welcome. When you’ve got a little time on your hands, I’d highly recommend Becks ‘Blow by Blow’ album. It’s one of my favourites. Apparently, it was also Slash’s favourite guitar album.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | May 15 2023 18:16 utc | 90

Posted by: uncle tungsten | May 15 2023 7:47 utc | 59:

China sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison Monday on spying charges.

China does not recognize dual citizenship. So, even though this guy Leung possesses a USA passport, China considers that document just a travel document. His China passport and Hong Kong identity card make him a Chinese citizen and was therefore arrested as a traitor spy.
Life sentence is harsh, but given his age it’s no different from a 10-year sentence. I feel more sorry for Ed Snowden for serving practically a 50-year sentence for exercising freedom of speech, per American style conception of what he did.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | May 15 2023 18:20 utc | 91

@Jon_in_AU, #90:
thanks for your reply :-). Blow by Blow album eh? I’ll look for and give it a listen.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | May 15 2023 18:27 utc | 92

Oriental Voice | May 15 2023 18:27 utc | 92–
If you’re into Beck’s overall history as a guitarist, then you’ll want to purchase Beckology, a triple disc compilation of his career up to 1990. Here’s his Discography, which includes several items I didn’t know about, like the one soundtrack album, Frankie’s House. I was lucky to see Jeff perform five times, the last in Seattle sometime in the oughts which I took my mother to enjoy.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 15 2023 18:55 utc | 93

@karlof1, #93:
Thank you karl for your suggestion. No, I’m not a fervent fan of hard rock any more, not at age of mid-70’s :-). I was a Yardbirds fan while growing up in Hong Kong, in high school. Then in late 1960’s I became a fervent fan of Led Zeppelin because of their second album and the tune Whole Lotta Love. I was by then in college in US. Whole Lotta Love was the top 40 on Progressive Rock stations in 1969, and Jimmy Page previously of the Yardbirds and fellow bandmate of Beck, was the rip guitarist. So Clapton, Beck, and Page were my rock idols most of my college days. When you posted that link on Moon River, I listened to it fondly with reminiscence of my college days :-).
I liked Andy Williams’ vocal version of Moon River too, while in high school.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | May 15 2023 19:21 utc | 94

@ karlof1 | May 15 2023 17:29 utc | 86
Great links.
Ta. D.

Posted by: Don Firineach | May 15 2023 19:24 utc | 95

Enough of the negative comments on Eric Clapton …
… I’ve witnessed the man live – and I actually remember most of it!
a few brief snippets … 5mins
The Definitive 24 Nights – Short Film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzxB3rbZ4uI

Posted by: Don Firineach | May 15 2023 19:28 utc | 96

james | May 15 2023 15:13 utc | 75
… who writes songs with melody anymore
Mike Keneally does.
Sorry for the spoiler, that’s how the album ends. Do listen to the entire suite, and as Mike recommends, with your headphones on.

Posted by: john | May 15 2023 19:51 utc | 97

Don Firineach | May 15 2023 19:28 utc | 96–
Thanks for your reply. Clapton’s a complex character. He’s aged very well regarding maturity and wisdom. His Crossroad’s Guitar Fests are awesome, but I’ve only seen them on video. He’s supposed to have another later this year. The two-day memorial concert for Jeff Beck at the Royal Albert Hall is just several days away; really want a video of that too.
Oriental Voice | May 15 2023 19:21 utc | 94–
Thanks for your reply. At our ages, our musical icons from our youth are slowly moving on beyond the river of life as the Moon River video implies. I listen to lots of jazz nowadays, but still mix in my rockers from yore. I also hear more jazz covers of rock tunes which shows the full circle of genres and their melding over time. Today’s pop music is hard for me to listen to, so I don’t. What I do like is the evolution of what’s known as World Music. I still want to attend live concerts/shows but can only get to a few per year–I do enjoy Seattle’s Jazz Alley. Music’s usually an excellent escape from geopolitics.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 15 2023 20:10 utc | 98

@ john,
that is a nice melody right where you cued up the link.. thanks! i agree.. you have good taste in music and being a real fz freak, you make me aware of some stuff, i might have missed too… cheers james
@ karlof1
i like your commentary to ov @99… thanks for your many fine contributions here at moa..

Posted by: james | May 15 2023 20:20 utc | 99

@karlof1
I’ll keep an eye out for the Albert Hall Beck video …

Posted by: Don Firineach | May 15 2023 20:27 utc | 100

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